That night, Liu Yilin wore a wig and colored contact lenses. Combined with the dim environment of the bar, everyone was drunk. Who would have recognized her as the woman with whom he had spent a night of fleeting passion?
Later that evening, Ning Beichen stayed in his room, watching the footage uploaded to the monitor. One of the cameras was pointed towards the balcony on the second floor.
Suddenly, a beautiful silhouette appeared on the surveillance feed. Liu Yilin, dressed in a tight white outfit, was standing on the balcony performing various yoga poses. Ning Beichen nearly got a nosebleed watching her.
"She's going to kill me, this woman," Ning Beichen muttered to himself, staring at the monitor. He wasn't some gentlemanly scholar; if there was something to see, he wouldn't pretend not to.
Just then, Ning Beichen spotted a red light flashing across the balcony in the monitor's view. It moved incredibly fast, disappearing in less than a second.
However, Ning Beichen reacted like a fierce tiger. He instantly left his room, sprinted to the lobby, and without using the stairs, he jumped. With ease, he grabbed the wooden railing of the second-floor staircase, hooked his body over, and flipped himself up to the second floor.
Liu Yilin was in the middle of a standing bow pose, her leg extended high behind her, one arm forward, the other holding her leg, forming a standing split.
She was slowly adjusting her breathing, lost in the world of yoga.
But at that moment, her door was violently kicked open from the outside, and a figure rushed towards her on the balcony.
Liu Yilin didn't even have time to react. Ning Beichen was already beside her. She had barely let out a sound before he grabbed her, rolled with her across the floor, and back into the room.
Liu Yilin was stunned, feeling Ning Beichen's heavy body pressing down on her like a mountain, rendering her speechless.
"Ning Beichen, what are you doing!"
Soon, a thunderous roar echoed through the room, and Liu Yilin, furious as a hippopotamus, was seen.
"Boss, we have an enemy," Ning Beichen told her.
"You again? You came once today, and now you want to come a second time? Ning Beichen, do you think I'm some kind of mindless infatuated woman who you can toy with as you please?" Liu Yilin said furiously.
"Boss, you've misunderstood. I saw someone peeking at you from outside the balcony just now," Ning Beichen explained, feeling like crying.
"Yes, someone tried to deal with me during the day, so you came to take advantage of me. And at night, someone is peeking at me, so you come to embrace me and roll on the floor? Ning Beichen, the one with ill intentions towards me is you, isn't it? Do you think you're being very amusing?" Liu Yilin said sarcastically.
"Shut up!" Ning Beichen slapped her on the butt. This woman was begging for discipline. If she were his woman, Ning Beichen would have been rougher. He would have shown her that being willful wasn't a woman's sole prerogative; gentleness and consideration could capture a man's heart.
With a "slap," Liu Yilin felt a sting on her backside, making her blush crimson. Her phoenix eyes glared daggers at Ning Beichen, but inside, she was a mess of panic.
She had never experienced anything like this, nor had she been held by a man like this. Although they had spent the night together last time, they were both drunk and couldn't recall the details. This time, however, was different. Ning Beichen was so clear before her eyes.
And for some reason? Liu Yilin found Ning Beichen's scent pleasant. It wasn't perfume, nor his usual tobacco smell, but a scent she couldn't quite describe, yet it held a powerful attraction for her.
However, Liu Yilin quickly came to her senses and tried to knee Ning Beichen, preparing to deliver a crippling blow.
But she was overthinking. Her knee couldn't even reach Ning Beichen; instead, he firmly restrained her, rendering her unable to move.
Ning Beichen soon released her and pointed towards the exterior wall of the balcony. On the wall, a strange long needle was suddenly embedded, right where Liu Yilin had been practicing yoga.
"See? That's a tranquilizer dart. Stay here and don't move. I'll see where the person went," Ning Beichen said to Liu Yilin before leaping off the balcony. This sight made Liu Yilin gasp and shout.
"Hey, wait, this is the second floor..."
But by the time she yelled, Ning Beichen had already jumped.
"It's over, he's not going to fall to his death, is he?" Liu Yilin cautiously walked to the balcony and peered over nervously. She saw that after Ning Beichen jumped from the second floor, he wasn't killed by the fall. Instead, he landed with ease and sprinted out of the villa compound like a leopard.
"Wow! This guy is actually this capable?" Liu Yilin was greatly shocked to see Ning Beichen jump from the second floor without a scratch.
Before, she thought he was just a chef, and his bodyguard role was a disguise. But after witnessing this, she was starting to believe he really was a bodyguard. Otherwise, how could he fight so well? Her best friend had arranged for people to ambush him twice, and he had easily defeated them all, even the director of that Taekwondo dojo was no match for him.
Now, Liu Yilin couldn't tell who the real Ning Beichen was anymore.
Liu Yilin snapped back to reality and looked at the tranquilizer dart on the wall, utterly bewildered.
"Is someone really trying to deal with me?"
"Impossible, I haven't offended anyone."
"Could it be my best friend hired someone to deal with Ning Beichen?"
"No, I need to make a call."
While Ning Beichen was still away, Liu Yilin immediately picked up her phone and called Fang Qing to inquire.
"Impossible, they're already making a move so soon?" Fang Qing was also bewildered by Liu Yilin's call. She had indeed hired someone to deal with Ning Beichen, but they hadn't even finalized the arrangements yet. Someone was already acting? That was too fast.
"Perhaps they mistook their target. Don't worry, I'll handle it," Fang Qing said vaguely.
"Fang Qing, maybe we should just call it off. If this continues, things will only get bigger," Liu Yilin began to have second thoughts.
"No, I, Fang Qing, have never failed against anyone so many times. Liu the rich lady, rest assured, I will succeed this time," Fang Qing stubbornly stated on the phone.
Meanwhile, Ning Beichen saw the back of a bald man. The bald man wore a gray scarf around his neck, held a device that fired tranquilizer darts, and was opening the door of a small car. Ning Beichen charged forward with a ferocious leap, kicking the car door with all his might...